Muncie man sentenced to 15 years for role in interstate drug conspiracy

MUNCIE, Ind. — A Muncie man convicted of participating in an interstate drug ring has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison.

Lance Michael McGee, 32, had pleaded guilty — in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis — conspiracy to possess with intent to deliver controlled substances. He was sentenced at a recent hearing by Judge Richard Young.

Under the terms of a plea agreement, five other related charges pending against McGee were dismissed.

According to an indictment returned December 2022, co-defendant Jamarr Cortez Hill, now 30, also of Muncie, "coordinated the acquisition of controlled substances in San Diego, California ... to be distributed in Muncie, Indiana."

Hill is accused of providing his father, Terry Lamarr Hill, and McGee with meth and cocaine to be sold in the Muncie area.

Terry Hill, 48, last November pleaded guilty to a related conspiracy count and draw a five-year sentence.

Jamarr Hill — charged with conspiracy to possession with intent to deliver fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine — has been scheduled to stand trial this month. However, Judge Young granted a defense request for a continuance, and rescheduled the trial for Sept. 17.

A fourth co-defendant — Sarah R. Barnes of Muncie — was allegedly recruited by Jamarr Hill to repeatedly transport large quantities of drugs from San Diego to Delaware County.

However, Barnes was found shot to death in a westside home last November.

Delaware County Coroner Gavin Greene said in January that he had determined a 32-year-old Muncie man, Kevin Humphrey, took his own life after fatally shooting Barnes, 45, and her 76-year-old father, Douglas L. Starr.

Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.